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Ye Shiwen's world record Olympic swim: brilliant, or too good to be true?http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/30/ye-shiwen-record-olympic-swim
Swimmer's final length – faster than Ryan Lochte's – <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/30/ye-shiwen-world-record-olympics-2012">has raised doubts</a>, but there is no evidence against her except her speed<p>It was not Ye Shiwen's winning time <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/30/ye-shiwen-world-record-olympics-2012">that aroused John Leonard's suspicion</a>, or even her age. The 16-year-old Ye swam the final of the 400m individual medley (IM) in a new world record of 4min 28.43sec, seven seconds faster than she had gone in the 2011 World Championship final. Leonard, an authority on swimming who has been executive director of the World Association of Swimming Coaches since 1989, believes that was a plausible, if difficult, improvement to make in 12 months. No, what got Leonard was the ease and speed with which Ye swam the last 100m. After 300m of butterfly, back and breaststroke, Ye was eight-tenths of a second behind the USA's Elizabeth Beisel. But 100m of freestyle later, Ye was almost three seconds ahead of her. One of the most remarkable facts of these Games is that Ye's time for her final length was quicker than that of Ryan Lochte, who won the men's IM in the second-fastest time in history.</p><p>For Leonard it brought back &quot;awful memories&quot; of the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta when Ireland's Michelle Smith, now De Bruin, won three gold medals in the pool only to be banned for doping offences two years later. Smith faced down direct accusations from her US rival Janet Evans at those Olympics. In 2012 Ye has been confronted with questions by the press, but until Leonard spoke out no one inside the sport was willing to put their doubts on the record. &quot;Unbelievable&quot; was the word many people, including the 2009 world champion in the 200m medley, Ariana Kukors, used to describe Ye's swim. Whether they were punctuating it with an exclamation mark or a question mark was left to the journalists to interpret.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/30/ye-shiwen-record-olympic-swim">Continue reading...</a>Ye ShiwenOlympics 2012: swimmingSwimmingDrugs in sportOlympic Games 2012SportUK newsChinaAsia PacificWorld newsMon, 30 Jul 2012 19:12:04 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/2012/jul/30/ye-shiwen-record-olympic-swimBarbara Walton/EPAYe Shiwen of China with her gold medal after winning the women's 400m individual medley. Photograph: Barbara Walton/EPABarbara Walton/EPAYe Shiwen of China with her gold medal after winning the women's 400m individual medley. Photograph: Barbara Walton/EPAAndy Bull at the Aquatics Centre2012-07-30T19:12:04ZHow Chairman Mao is helping China's bid to win volleyball Olympic gold | Tania Braniganhttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2011/may/05/chairman-mao-china-volleyball-olympic
After bronze in Beijing, China's women's volleyball squad are on a Long March to the London 2012 Games<p>China bagged more gold medals than any other nation at the Beijing Olympic Games but it had to be content with a bronze in women's volleyball. This time it is determined to do better, and coaches have enlisted help from the very (albeit deceased) top: Mao Zedong.</p><p>Though Mao was famous for his river swims – which he used to telegraph his vitality – his thoughts on volleyball are unknown. But team members are studying and memorising his poetry and &quot;hope to utilise Long March spirit in their preparation for the 2012 London Olympics,&quot; <a href="http://news.163.com/11/0504/06/736JLSI200014AED.html" title="the Shanghai Youth Daily reports">the Shanghai Youth Daily reports</a>.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2011/may/05/chairman-mao-china-volleyball-olympic">Continue reading...</a>SportOlympic Games 2012Olympics 2012: volleyball and beach volleyballChinaWorld newsAsia PacificOlympicsThu, 05 May 2011 10:10:00 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/sport/london-2012-olympics-blog/2011/may/05/chairman-mao-china-volleyball-olympic-/EPAChairman Mao Zedong's Long March poetry is being used to help China's women's volleyball team. Photograph: EPA-/EPAChairman Mao Zedong's Long March poetry is being used to help China's women's volleyball team Photograph: -/EPATania Branigan2011-05-05T10:10:00Z